With the Penguins facing elimination on Wednesday, reporters who boldly insisted the Penguins would waltz through the playoffs are now scrambling to justify how their predictions ended up so wrong.

Colligan then takes his balls from the mouths of several media members and goes on to explain things:

The Penguins are facing a good team with a sound gameplan and they’ve seen a number of bounces and calls go the Flyers’ way. Critical mistakes have resulted in opportunities for Philadelphia, and more often than not they’ve capitalized. Fleury hasn’t been a star in net and it’s put the Penguins’ roster holes — which were not addressed at the trade deadline — under a microscope.

A bounce or two the other way and Pittsburgh could easily be sitting in control with a 2-1 series lead. But they’re not and they face an almost impossible task of winning four straight games.